On Radio: Station-sponsored stunts may get the ax in response to contestant's death

By BILL VIRGIN, P-I REPORTER

Updated 10:00 pm, Wednesday, January 31, 2007

As a means of recruiting and retaining listeners, contests have been a part of radio almost since the days of Marconi. "Remember the phrase that pays!" "Be the 10th caller and win!" Even staid National Public Radio uses quizzes and contests on several of its shows.

But the radio industry is doing some serious re-evaluation of what part contests should play in their programming, and how edgy those contests should be, in the wake of the death of a contestant in January following a station-sponsored stunt at an Entercom-owned outlet in Sacramento, Calif.

The victim, a 28-year-old mother of three, was participating in a contest/stunt called "Hold Your Wee for a Wii," in which contestants competed to see who could drink large amounts of water without going to the bathroom. Whoever held out the longest would win a Nintendo Wii video game console. The woman died of what a coroner ruled was symptoms consistent with water intoxication.

Making matters worse, the station apparently was warned by a caller during the stunt that drinking too much water could have serious health consequences.

Entercom dumped the morning show that put on the stunt and fired 10 staffers, but the matter isn't likely to end there. Not only has the woman's family filed suit, they've also called upon the Federal Communications Commission to yank the station's license. The FCC has said it will investigate.

Whatever the outcome of the legal proceedings, the incident already is having an impact on the radio industry.

Marc Kaye, vice president and Seattle market manager for Sandusky Radio, says the controversy could accelerate the end of what he calls "1980s radio and Zoo-like morning shows," featuring huge casts and a raucous presentation. "Is this clown/circus stuff really what people want in the 2000s?" he asks. "I think it's going to push the ones who were not so sure."

The trend of using listeners in potentially risky stunts is a relatively recent one, says Kent Phillips, morning co-host at KPLZ-FM and a programmer and station owner. At one time, DJs would invent fictional characters performing fictitious stunts. Then the DJs themselves, or show cast members known as stunt boys, would perform real-life on-air adventures; Phillips says his show used to have someone known as Danger Boy do things such as roll down a bowling lane on a skateboard or go through a car wash on top of the car.

What brought listeners into those stunts, Phillips believes, was the success of "reality" television shows.

That's likely to change. Phillips said KPLZ already has scrubbed a planned contest in which participants would see who could ride a roller coaster the longest.

Will de-emphasizing contests hurt listenership? Kaye doesn't believe so. "I love it when I see competitors spending money on contests" that they might spend on other forms of marketing he believes are more effective. "The percentage of listeners who participate in contests is so small." When contests become the focal point, "that's a mistake."

Phillips says contests can drive listenership. KPLZ's "Live in it to win it," in which four listeners competed to see who could stay in a car the longest to win it, generated good ratings and lots of Web site hits, he says.

But Phillips does agree the trend already was moving away from stunts, at least for adult-oriented stations. "It's more about the stories than the stunts," he says. "We talk to listeners about the stuff they've already done," rather than put them in new, potentially risky situations.

Keith Shipman, a former Seattle radio and TV host who now runs a group of stations in central Oregon, believes the license might indeed be pulled from the Sacramento station. Look at the amount of uproar and fines levied in the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction incident at the Super Bowl, he says, a controversy that didn't involve a listener death.

That wouldn't bother him much; what does concern him is the reputation that the rest of the industry will be left with "because one group of knuckleheads didn't do research or use common sense."

In other radio notes:

KUOW-FM (94.9) and sister station KXOT-FM (91.7) have announced staffing and schedule changes.

At KUOW, Deborah Brandt, who has been the local host for "Morning Edition" for nine years, is departing in mid-February. Derek Wang, who had been weekend host, will succeed Brandt. Wang, in turn, will be replaced by Jamala Henderson.

On Mondays KUOW has replaced "Power of Voice" at 8 p.m. with "KUOW Presents." On Tuesdays the lecture series "Word for Word" replaces "The Works," although columnist and tech commentator Glenn Fleischman will contribute segments to "The Beat" as well as podcasts.

On KXOT, the station is adding programs to replace repeats of local KUOW shows. "Fresh Air' will be heard at 9 a.m. weekdays (repeating at 8 p.m.), while "Newsline" from Radio Netherlands and "Asia Pacific" from Radio Australia air at 3 and 3:30 p.m. (with "Left, Right & Center" taking over the 3:30 p.m. slot on Fridays).

"Fair Game" with Faith Salie airs at 4 p.m., while the CBC's "Ideas" is heard at 7 p.m. and "On Point" runs at 9 p.m.

On Saturdays, the CBC's "Definitely Not the Opera" airs at 9 a.m. "Quirks and Quarks" moves to 4 p.m. Sundays.

KCIS-FM (630) has added the nationally syndicated financial-advice show hosted by Dave Ramsey to its schedule 3-7 p.m. weekdays.